Lonely No More (Reboot!)
by Ivy Braginski
Summary: Canada and (fem) Russia form an alliance. But is allies enough to satisfy the two lonely countries? (This is a rewrite of an older fic I wrote that has been taken down since)


Snow. Russia could never really decide if she hated it or loved it more. On one hand, it made life so difficult for many of her people with food shortages, frozen water-pipes, and deadly temperatures. On the other hand, it had protected her against invasion many times and was an integral part of her life.

As it stood in the current moment, she loved it, and she loved staying warm and cozy inside of her home while watching it dance in front of her window. She could spend hours staring at the snow, peaceful and content, and she had done so many times before.

However, her peace was soon to be interrupted by a tentative knock on her door. Russia's eyes snapped to the source of the noise. Who on Earth could that be? Belarus and Ukraine were both away dealing with foreign affairs so it couldn't be them. Not that they would knock anyways, they had a habit of inviting themselves into her home, even if she wasn't there. Russia didn't get many visitors either, since there were only a few people who would _want_ to come see her and those that did were put off by the cold and the distance, not to mention the current weather.

A second, louder knock made it clear that it wasn't the wind or her imagination. She realized that she'd have to go greet whoever was there and hurried over to the door. There was a moment of hesitation before she pulled it open, allowing a flurry of snowflakes to swirl their way into her home.

Russia stared in confusion at the person in front of her. She wasn't sure who she expected to be there, but it definitely wasn't him.

"Canada? What are you doing here?" she asked, surprise evident in her voice.

Canada seemed to become just as bewildered after she spoke and he stared at her, mouth agape for a few moments before responding. "You know my name? I-I didn't think you knew I existed, let alone my name…"

They both stared at each other, equal parts surprised and confused, before Russia stepped to the side and gestured for Canada to come in. "We can talk more inside, I don't want you to freeze to death."

Canada murmured a quiet thank you and followed her inside, grateful for a reprieve from the cold. As he was led into the living room, Canada admired Russia's home.

"This is quite a lovely house," he commented. "Very cozy."

She offered him a warm smile and sat down on the couch. "That's kind of you to say. I'm very proud of my home. Sit wherever you'd like by the way."

Canada chose the seat on the opposite side of the coffee table from Russia and fiddled nervously with the hem of his jacket, seemingly trying to figure out what he wanted to say.

Russia waited patiently for the man to find his words before her curiosity overwhelmed her. "Canada, is there something you hope to gain from this visit? A favor perhaps? Or an offer of trade?" She stopped for a moment, then realized how unwelcoming that sounded and quickly tried to correct herself. "Not that I'm saying you aren't welcome to visit me, quite the opposite really. It's just that very few visits to my house are about anything but business so I don't see the need to delay the inevitable."

The Canadian looked guilty for a moment and stared at his lap before responding. "You're right, I guess this is more of a business visit. Sorry about that…"

She shrugged and smiled at him again. "As long as you're not here with ill intentions this business doesn't have to be a bad visit."

He brightened at that, but still avoided her gaze as he spoke. "Well in that case, I was talking to my boss the other day and he said that I should get more allies so I could stop being forgotten so much and um, I figured since we're both northern countries we probably have a lot in common and I guess what I'm trying to ask is do you want to be allies with me?"

The words tumbled out of his mouth and Canada took a deep breath as he finished, his gaze trained on the floor and his face tinged pink. Russia in the meantime was staring at him in stunned silence. People had asked her for alliances before, of course, but those all had motives behind them. They had wanted to use her power, or her numbers, or use her to surround their enemies, or sometimes they just wanted to make sure she didn't side with their enemies. But an alliance formed just because they were similar? This was new to Russia, and she couldn't help but get excited at the idea of it.

"So you want to be allies because we are similar? You don't have any ulterior motives? Any wars you're planning? Political moves you want to make? I'm not necessarily going to say no if you do I'd just rather know about them beforehand."

Canada shook his head. "No nothing like that, I just think it'd be nice." There was a small smile on his face.

Silence stretched between them for a few moments before Russia spoke quietly. "Why me then?"

He seemed surprised by her question. "Well like I said before we are pretty similar countries in terms of size and climate and things like that and, to be honest I've always kind of been interested in getting to know you more," he admitted. "Usually I'm too shy so I figured this would be a good excu-"

He was interrupted by strong arms suddenly wrapping around him and squeezing tightly. He hadn't noticed Russia approaching him as he spoke before he was enveloped in a crushing hug, and he let out a startled gasp.

"I would very much like to be allies with you then, Canada," Russia announced before setting the boy down gently. She was smiling sheepishly at him as she spoke, "sorry about that by the way, I got a little excited."

Canada grinned up at her. One hand covered his slightly crushed ribs but he didn't seem to notice the pain over the excitement of Russia's acceptance. "That's okay! I'm just glad you said yes," he admitted.

"I feel like this is the beginning of something great, Canada."


End file.
